Airbus threatens to leave Britain

06/15/2017

President of Airbus Commercial Aircraft (the largest division of the Airbus Group) Fabrice Brégier said that Airbus can take its production out from Great Britain (the company has two plants and employs 10,000 people in the country. According to Brégier, this may happen if "requirements of the company will not be fulfilled in the light of the forthcoming exit from the European Union (Brexit).

Laurent ERRERA

The requirements concern the free entry of Airbus employees from other countries, tariff regulation (details are not disclosed) and component certification: components manufactured in the UK should be in accordance with the requirements of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). "We want to stay, but only if the conditions that will allow the integrated organization to work will be taken into account. Let's imagine that I will not be able to visit my factories, since I am not a British subject", Brégier said.

Negotiations between the UK and the European Union on exit conditions should begin in June.

In an annual report for 2016, Airbus Group warned investors that there were two political events that could potentially worsen operating conditions in individual countries and relations with customers in these countries - Brexit and the election of US President Donald Trump (Airbus has a plant in the US).

Airbus’ representative is not commenting comment these words.

Airbus is the second largest (after Boeing) aircraft building concern in the world. In 2016, the manufacturer delivered 688 aircraft and received 731 new orders (considering cancellation of earlier orders), the end-of-year order portfolio reaches 6874 civilian aircraft (estimated at $ 1 trillion). Number of new orders for the company’s civil aircraft was eight out of ten years ahead of the American competitor in 2007-2016, including in 2016, says Airbus’ presentation. Revenues in 2016 amounted to 67 billion euro, net profit – to 995 million euro. The main shareholders of the Airbus Group are state-owned companies in France, Germany and Spain. The headquarter is located in Toulouse.

Dealogic research company says that number of British companies that were bought by foreign investors has risen sharply after the referendum on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Experts explain this by the fact that the pound sterling appreciably decreased after the referendum, which made the British assets more accessible for takeover.

According to Dealogic data, after it became clear that the UK is going to leave the EU, foreign investors announced purchase or bought 860 British companies for a total of about $ 130 billion. The growing interest of foreigners in buying British assets led to the fact that the past year has become a record since 2000. The number of British companies to which foreigners either formally made an offer to buy or already bought them amounted to 948. A year earlier, the number of such British companies was only 792.

The interest has not quenched even in 2017. Since January, Dealogic counted 336 British companies that have become targets for absorption by foreign investors. This is already about half of the total number of such companies, compared, for example, to 2014 (685) or 2013 (646). Experts note that the interest of foreigners to the UK is caused by the decrease in the rate of the pound sterling that occurred after the referendum - since the end of June last year, when a referendum was held, and to date, the pound has fallen in price to the dollar by 9.8%, and to the euro - by 8.4%.